TIFTON – The Tifton Fire Department and Tift County Fire/Rescue have secured a rail car for training purposes.

The car was donated by Norfolk Southern and transported to the Tifton training center by Utilco Railroad Services, city officials said in a statement.

“In their ongoing efforts to ensure first responders are constantly trained in potential scenarios, the city and county both saw the benefit of having the rail car available for training,” city officials said. “Norfolk Southern will also provide training to both departments later this year.”

“I am pleased that Tift County Fire Rescue and City of Tifton Fire Department have the opportunity to use the donated rail car to train rescue workers in preplanning, understanding and mitigating challenges of train derailments,” Tift County Commission Chairman Tony McBrayer said. “Since many rail cars contain hazardous materials, this training will help reduce exposure to our firefighters, citizens and business owners.”

Norfolk Southern is a transportation company; its leading subsidy, Norfolk Southern Railway Company, operates approximately 19,300 route miles in 22 states and the District of Columbia, serves every major container port in the eastern United States, “offers the most extensive intermodal rail network in the eastern United States and is the primary carrier moving through Tifton,” city officials said.

“The safety of Tifton residents and businesses is always a priority,” said Mayor Julie Smith, who attended a National League of Cities conference earlier this year when a representative of Norfolk Southern was on a panel to discuss railroad safety in the country. “Train derailments and accidents have happened in other parts of the country, so I am grateful our first responders will have a high level of preparedness should an incident occur.”